I'm not usually a big casefile fan; I like them fine on the show, but that's not, generally, what I want out of fic. But the cases in these are interesting enough that I don't mind looking at them, but also not supremely complex, such that they take up too much of my intellectual time. They do what I think a fic-ish casefile should do; they put Mulder and Scully in an interesting emotional place, which then moves them forward through their emotional arcs.
I like the way this fic lets Scully process her abduction emotionally, both that she finds some peace in working through it, in doing her job well and letting that be cathartic, and also that she finds little sneaky ways of relying on Mulder emotionally without having to say so. It's important to her that she not be twigged as needy, but it's important to her emotional recovery that have support from people who care about her and validate her choices (and it seems her family was maybe not so good at the latter). So, Mulder it is.
And the eternal irony of the Mulder/Scully relationship is that this means that he's all about needing emotional confirmation of how people feel about him, repeatedly. He can't just know; he needs to be sure. So Scully's reticence here is terrifying. There's a way in which they're an O. Henry story of a relationship, full of misreadings and misinterpretations and awkward accidents. (That said, I think the second part does drag a little; Mulder's rather mopey and it doesn't move the story along. I also think I'm frustrated with him for his issues, which is rich coming from me, but is true none the less.)
The final scene of the third part is flat-out amazing. I love how Scully puts things together; I love that she's angry with him; I love the line "I though I was supposed to be the one with all the angst, or whatever"; I love the dialogue that closes it. I just--it's perfect. It's both the perfect culmination of the story, and also a very 'them' ending.
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winterfish
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Date: 2010-04-25 01:58 pm (UTC)I'm not usually a big casefile fan; I like them fine on the show, but that's not, generally, what I want out of fic. But the cases in these are interesting enough that I don't mind looking at them, but also not supremely complex, such that they take up too much of my intellectual time. They do what I think a fic-ish casefile should do; they put Mulder and Scully in an interesting emotional place, which then moves them forward through their emotional arcs.
I like the way this fic lets Scully process her abduction emotionally, both that she finds some peace in working through it, in doing her job well and letting that be cathartic, and also that she finds little sneaky ways of relying on Mulder emotionally without having to say so. It's important to her that she not be twigged as needy, but it's important to her emotional recovery that have support from people who care about her and validate her choices (and it seems her family was maybe not so good at the latter). So, Mulder it is.
And the eternal irony of the Mulder/Scully relationship is that this means that he's all about needing emotional confirmation of how people feel about him, repeatedly. He can't just know; he needs to be sure. So Scully's reticence here is terrifying. There's a way in which they're an O. Henry story of a relationship, full of misreadings and misinterpretations and awkward accidents. (That said, I think the second part does drag a little; Mulder's rather mopey and it doesn't move the story along. I also think I'm frustrated with him for his issues, which is rich coming from me, but is true none the less.)
The final scene of the third part is flat-out amazing. I love how Scully puts things together; I love that she's angry with him; I love the line "I though I was supposed to be the one with all the angst, or whatever"; I love the dialogue that closes it. I just--it's perfect. It's both the perfect culmination of the story, and also a very 'them' ending.